The Bends review

The second album from Radiohead, and it was after this album that people started to notice Radiohead. Stylistically, it feels like a bridge between the generic rock of Pablo Honey and the unique wizardry in OK Computer.

Tracks:

1. Planet Telex: 9/10 the song never refers to a planet called Telex, but given the ferocity of the song it could represent a planet's apocalypse. Short on subtlety but full of punch.

2. The Bends: 9/10 a brilliant exploration of the dark side of fame full of brilliant guitar work and pathos.

3. High and Dry: 7/10 a soft and safe commercial single that is unsurprisingly hated by Thom Yorke. It's hardly bad though and is perfectly catchy. .

4. Fake Plastic Trees: 8/10 this one is a bit too quiet and the louder bits feel jarring as a result. It's overrated, but the lyrics are awesome and it powerful enough to get under your skin.

5. Bones: 6/10 some interesting themes here, but it needs some lessons in the art of the subtlety.

6. (Nice Dream): 7/10 a repetitive and quiet but skilled and gently compelling song.

7. Just: 8/10 a delightfully heavy and fun song.

8. My Iron Lung: 8/10 a cracking rock song and a thoroughly entertaining meditation on Creep. Unfortunately the chorus is completely incomprehensible.

9. Bullet Proof... I Wish I Was: 7/10 even if it's one of Radiohead's whiner songs it's still, at 20 years old, far ahead of much of today's music.

10. Black Star: 9/10 this works as both a masterful relationship song and as a hugely entertaining piece of rock music.

11. Sulk: 7/10 a surprisingly good one, although it is generic.

12. Street Spirit (Fade Out): 9/10 do not listen to this if you are feeling down. While highly depressing, this is also strangely beautiful and is a hypnotic, haunting and bleak work of art.

Best song: Street Spirit (Fade Out)
Worst song: Bones

Summary: I'm not crazy about The Bends. While good on a technical level and still way better than a lot of modern music, it doesn't hold up well when compared to their later stuff. Most of this is just samey rock stuff which can be found elsewhere, although at it's best it's excellent. Everything's fine and there aren't any particular flaws, but it's just in honesty a little boring and isn't as good as the reviews would have you believe. It is actually rather a fine album, but it lacks the uniqueness of the band's later work and none of the songs are among my all-time favorites by Radiohead. It's an absolutely solid 4 star album nonetheless. .



Final rating: 8/10